The backlash against Louisiana's "Jena Six" escalated last night.
After the second day of closed-door deliberations in juvenile court, Louisiana State District Judge J.P. Mauffrey Jr. decided to implement Bell's probation for previous untried charges, and send Bell to 18 months in prison.
The move caught the defense, who were expecting another day of deliberations today, by surprise. They plan to appeal.
I wonder whether the 9 months Bell already spent in adult prison don't count.
The whole thing, including the timing, seems like a message Louisiana's justice system is trying to send: "Mind your own business, or these kids will suffer for it."
I reported here previously about the public-opinion backlash among Southern whites; here's another example. A teenage in Nashville banned from wearing a 'Free the Jena 6' T-shirt to school. This shirt is apparently included in one of the following categories:
...anything associated with criminal gangs or bearing slogans "that are about or suggestive of drugs, alcohol, sex, obscenities or prove to be a disturbing influence